Those familiar at all with the theremin, the electronic instrument invented by its namesake in the 1920s, may chiefly associate it with science fiction film soundtracks, where its eerie swoops and burbles long held sway.

But there’s also a large and growing body of concert music composed for the instrument, and virtuosos like the Dutch thereminist Thorwald Jørgensen to champion it.

Jørgensen is scheduled to join the Bay Area’s innovative Friction Quartet on Saturday, May 19, to introduce two recent pieces for theremin and string quartet: Simon Bertrand’s “The Invisible Singer,” which receives its U.S. premiere, and “Transformations” by the New York composer Dalit Warshaw.